Category: The Pessimistic Entrepreneur

I’ve been asked a lot lately about Podcasting. Yes, I can help you. No, I am not free or cheap. Easy, maybe? So I have listed my favorite or at least acceptable hardware and software below. You do not have to buy from the affiliate links, but I hope you do.

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Brand Zealots

Inspired by an introduction to an article by Kim Leitzes on changing social media campaigns in China. I was inspired to look a bit what is common measuring stick of consumer brand followers. I wondered what is a true brand follower, a person who will sleep in line over night for a new phone, or someone who only tells their closes allies about you. Maybe not even their brothers, sisters are best friends. Not because they don’t want you to have the same experience, but because they want no added interference in their experience. When I thought about that it became clear their are brand “fanboi’s” and brand zealots. I think if entrepreneurs and small business people stepped outside of their comfort zones and tried to achieve these bench marks they would not only have more success, but a sense of pleasure since they would be helping friends and not numbers.

My 5 Entrepreneur Goals for 2017.

So, of my 5 Entrepreneur Goals which one seems the easiest? Now I have not had a steady income in 2016 and truthfully, I am at rock bottom so, goal number one, right? Which goal should be the most important? I am betting most of you say number three. Most probably think that numbers one and four and two and five are the same goal. But, not so fast my friends!

My 5 Entrepreneur Goals for 2017, start with number one “Make more money.”

Simple, yes? Sure, if I had a consistent income from a known source, I could go ask for a pay raise or adjust my withholdings in some way. But I do not have a consistent income, so, I need to develop that revenue stream. Not easy when you own your own business, but I need to rely on my experiences and look for the streams I know best.

Number two on My 5 Entrepreneur Goals of 2017, is “Spend less money.”

Sure, easy, just cut out the extras. I have. Gone is satellite television, though I did add on Netflix, Hulu and Sling, but still saving over $100 a month. Soup is a lot cheaper and better caloric wise than Taco Bell or Jack in The Box. It is not that I have cooking, I hate cleaning up, but it is much cheaper and healthier to just do it yourself. So, no fancy gym memberships, no fancy restaurants and so forth. I also am trying to measure my trips out so I make my trips in circles with mostly right hand turns.

Goal three of My 5 Entrepreneur Goals of 2017 may be my hardest to adhere to.

While I am good at creating, and managing project budgets. But, when it comes to my personal budgets I leave a lot to be desired in self-discipline. So now how do I best manage my funds. Now using tools like Quicken, Capital One and Fidelity, I am hoping to stay on top of my Albatross. The second thing I hope to accomplish is better management of my filing system. Hopefully keeping a clean and streamlines filing system will help me better monitor my accounts payable and receivable.

Goal four of My 5 Entrepreneur Goals of 2017 might seem weird.

“Create new revenue streams,” as a part-time photographer, a former instructor and a blogger I hope to monetize these elements to increase the breadth of my revenue streams and no longer rely on just one source of income. Can I, do it? Sure, but being an introvert who is typically unsure of himself when asking for opportunities, it is tougher than most things I attempt.

Goal five of My 5 Entrepreneur Goals of 2017 also sounds kind of weird,

but again this is something I have to look at to slow spending down. One thing I am looking at now is moving my website host to someone who is much more WordPress friendly and more financially feasible. I have even thought of getting mass transit passes to reach the metro area in a more financially responsible fashion.

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Today, well today and tonight, I had two of the hardest questions ever posed to me. No She did not ask me to Marry her.

The first Hard Questions question was, are you a “Big Picture” guy or a “Details” guy and the only thing I could think of was “Yes.” Ok, sure, not a good answer but it is the truth. Being a field technician for many years for a major shipping company I had to learn about the business impact of what I was doing. If I negatively affected the business, then I not only hurt the delivery drivers but shot the heck out of customer service. At the Universities the last few years as I took on more responsibilities I definitely was a “Yes” guy. As my projects became larger and much more complex (read: expensive), I was the guy not only planning the projects but worrying about the implementation and then sticking my hands all the way up to the shoulder blades in the cabling. So my answer was yes! Now don’t worry I didn’t just say yes, but explained it. So I am “The Big Picture Guy Who Sees the Pixels out of whack.” Sorry blame it on my video background.

Then tonight Hard Questions number two, was even a scarier question posed to me! How do my professional dreams and my skills align? Now this is not a what are you doing in five years’ question, but instead a “you have a magic wand and you could have any job you want” question and how do your skills align with having that job. Wow, shocking was a mild understatement because at first I thought “THEY DON’T!” But as I sat down to diagram what I wanted, yes I did go big, I realized while I might not have every skill required, I have most. So now, addressing the jobs I really want, the proverbial gauntlet has been slapped upside the back of my head and I now understand that I need to begin planning my future to acquire the necessary experience and skills to land that job.

So if you need a Chief Information Officer, drop me a line. I am the big picture guy who has installed the cable and replaced the boards while smoothing the ruffled feathers of the customers.

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7 attributes Entrepreneurs need:

Endurance,

The first of the 7 attributes us Endurance. Running your own business is not a sprint. It is a marathon. It is not 26.2 miles, more like 26.2 years. Are you and your family ready for the long days and short nights? Every business is different and mileage may vary.

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When you are running your own business, there are lots of troubles you have to deal with. Many of them are large and can ruin your business in a matter of seconds. The problem with most troubles, they are self-inflicted. Continue reading “Entrepreneur Troubles”

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Changes

Broke

Yes, I broke it. Changes, That’s what I do best. So please bare with me as I rebuild and retool Double P Tack. I will attempt to showcase the best of what I have to offer including a little Information Technology, a little Photography and a whole lot of whatever else.

On the bottom

of the page you will see links to my social media pages. If you came here because I’ve applied for a position with your company please check out my LinkedIn profile. If you are intreseted in my video, Youtube is the place to go. Technology folks, feel free to checkout my Twitter account. Photography mavens please checkout my Pintrest and Instagram accounts. While Pintrest has many of my favorite things on there it has a lot of my original images.

Lastly,

I would ask, if you see an image you like. Please do not steal it. My photography is not free! This doesn’t matter if you are a starving student or a scrapping by non-profit. If you steal I will take appropriate actions.